Tag Archives: New Delhi

Penang Sales Mission to India 2019, led by Ashwin Gunasekeran, CEO, Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau, is being held in New Delhi. The objective of the mission is to promote Penang as the preferred destination for corporate and association meetings, conferences, and incentives, as well as leisure travel. A delegation of 13 Malaysia-based organisations is visiting the capital city, joined by Yeoh Soon Hin, the Penang State Executive Councillor for Tourism Development, Heritage, Arts & Culture. Capitalising on Penang’s rising popularity in India, the Penang Sales Mission to India hosted a B2B engagement session with participating business events and leisure travel buyers from India. Speaking at the event in New Delhi, Hin said, “Penang has always been a melting pot of cultures – an intersection for history and trade. As its State government, we are committed to continue developing the tourism sector and to continue showcasing our proud heritage and history.” He further stated that Penang’s airport was the third busiest airport in Malaysia and had a total passenger movement of seven million in 2018.” Addressing the gathering, Gunasekeran said, “India is one of the top five markets for business events in Penang, and over the past year, we have received encouraging interest from event planners and conference organisers. This Mission is joined by some of Penang’s finest offerings in the hospitality, travel and events sectors, and will showcase the best of what Penang can offer to the Indian market.”

GoAir will make Phuket as its Thailand hub and fly to the beach island from eight more Indian cities by the end of next year. The carrier currently flies to Phuket and Male in Maldives from Mumbai and New Delhi as part of its overseas route network. It had commenced its international operations on October 11 with flight services to Phuket from New Delhi.

The upcoming India Tourism Mart (ITM), jointly organised by Ministry of Tourism and Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), is scheduled to be held from September 16-18, 2018, at The Ashok, New Delhi. A total of 274 buyers have been selected for the event. Subhash Goyal, Honorary Secretary, FAITH, shared, “We have selected 274 buyers out of over 600 applications by a screening committee to ensure that we only have genuine buyers. For sellers, we have about 16 participating states, out of which the major partner states are Punjab and Gujarat. Around 70 small booths have been taken by tour operators, worth Rs 60,000 on individual basis and Rs 30,000 each on sharing. This totals to about 100 tour operators. Besides, IATO has taken six booths with 12 operators each, for whom IATO has subsidised the rates at around Rs 15,000 each. Similarly, ATOAI has taken a number of booths. We have even given booths for operators in the Northeast.

Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, Government of India, launched the new Incredible India website in New Delhi. The website showcases India as a holistic destination, revolving around major experiences such as spirituality, heritage, adventure, culture, yoga, wellness and more. The website follows the trends and technologies of international standards with an aim to project India as a must-visit destination among its overseas travellers. The Ministry will now be able to engage effectively with visitors across web and social channels and measure engagement to deliver real time personalised experiences for each visitor based on their interest and travel persona. It has partnered with Google Arts & Culture in bringing online a series of compelling visuals that will give the user an immersive experience of India’s spectacular heritage, festivity, spirituality, museums and adventure. Going forward, the website will be available in Hindi and leading international languages. Speaking at the event, Rashmi Verma, Secretary Tourism, said that the new website will suggest to a visitor the options and there is no need of any queries. She also added that the website will provide information all over the world about exotic destinations of the country. The Secretary also conveyed that the website has already started getting visits from US, Russia and China. Website Link: https://www.incredibleindia.org/

India and Cambodia have agreed to strengthen tourism cooperation, particularly with regards to a direct air link between Phnom Penh and New Delhi. This decision was taken after a joint committee meeting between officials from Cambodia and India, in Siem Reap, to discuss cooperation in the tourism industry as part of a high-level dialogue mechanism. Phnom Penh recently hosted the ‘Incredible India Road Show’, which aimed to promote India as a destination for Cambodian tourists, as well as to create new partnerships between Indian and local companies in the tourism industry. Rashmi Verma, Secretary – Tourism, Government of India, said the committee is now working on a strategy to further the collaboration between the countries in tourism. “Stronger cooperation in tourism will be beneficial for both countries in terms of economic growth and job creation,” she said. The flow of tourists between Cambodia and India has increased remarkably in the last few years, said Thong Khon, Cambodian Minister of Tourism. He said that many Cambodians travel to India to visit religious landmarks, while Indians like to visit the Kingdom to experience local weddings or as part of pilgrimages. “In many ways, both countries have a similar appeal for tourists, and both have huge potential for tourism. This is why we need to boost cooperation with India in the sector,” Khon said.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry, unveiled its line-up of flagship education and networking events in India for the year ahead. The GBTA Conference 2018 will be held in Bengaluru on 15 June, in New Delhi on 14 September, followed by Mumbai on 12 October, 2018. These forums will discuss best practices across the business travel life-cycle through a mix of panel discussions and presentations. Each event will also feature a trade show highlighting the best-class solution providers within the business travel industry. “With India expected to become the sixth largest business market in the world by the end of 2019, GBTA felt it was crucial to host a series of conferences within this region,” said Gaurav Sundaram, President ProKonsul & Regional Director of India for GBTA. He added, “Each conference will be unique in its offerings of education sessions, speakers and content and will ultimately help educate the market on global best practices.” GBTA Conference 2018 Bengaluru will be held at the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel and Convention Center. The one-day event will feature a CXO roundtable moderated by Sundaram on generating the optimal ROI from business travel. The conference will also feature sessions focused on optimizing air contracts, managing workforce mobility, optimisation opportunities within business travel, challenging the status quo as it pertains to technology and processes, and more. Registration is now open for GBTA Conference 2018 New Delhi, hosted at the Pullman Aerocity New Delhi. The event will include a CXO round-table on creating scalable global travel programs as well as education sessions on the impact of payment solutions on business travel and duty of care within Indian …

Vietjet has unveiled plans to launch direct flights between Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and New Delhi. The airline is set to introduce four flights per week in the third quarter of 2018 to serve travel demands of the two countries and contribute to the region’s integration and trade exchange. The introduction of the new route will present Vietjet with an opportunity to not only tap into the growing tourism market but also facilitate trade integration and exchange between Vietnam and India.

The 33rd edition of Aahar, the International Food & Hospitality Fair, New Delhi, organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation, is underway at Pragati Maidan. Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation of India, inaugurated the fair. The India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), with the support of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Agricultural, and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) and other industry bodies, are the organisers of the event, which will be underway until March 17, 2018, at Hall 7 of Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Over 900 exhibitors from India and overseas will be exhibiting a wide range of food products, machinery, and equipment. Prabhu at the inaugural address said, ”Food is a very important part of Indian culture and has been a great attraction for the people who visit our country. Every state in our country has different cuisine. Over a period of time, we have started processing food and this is a great transition. India is the largest producer of milk and the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, all this food which is produced is creating a value chain, supply chain, thus adding to the real economic opportunities. This is just a beginning. I don’t think we have even touched the surface of the opportunities that lies in our country and therefore I am happy, that is exactly what has been showcased at Aahar.” The foreign participation is from 18 countries including USA, China, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Spain, Oman, South Korea, Thailand, UAE, Peru, Norway, Indonesia, Canada, Tunisia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan.

The Embassy of the Czech Republic has inaugurated the 16th VFS Global Czech Republic Visa Application Centre in India, in Goa. HE Milan Hovorka, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in India, inaugurated the centre located in Panjim on January 17, 2018. He said, “The launch of the Czech Republic Visa Application Centre in Goa reflects the country’s genuine commitment to provide for the growing demands of Visas to the country among Indian tourists, business and culture. As a result of this policy, the Czech Republic has emerged as one of the preferred European destinations for Indian tourists.” The opening of 16 visa application centres in India over a two-year period signifies VFS Global’ s strengthening association with the Embassy of the Czech Republic. Vinay Malhotra, Chief Operating Officer – Middle East and South Asia, VFS Global, said, “Outbound traffic from India is constantly growing, and the Czech Republic in particular is rapidly gaining popularity as a preferred tourist destination among Indian travel enthusiasts. With India being a large source market for travel to Europe, the new centre will help enhance the visa services network for the Czech Republic visa applicants in the region.” Besides Goa, other cities where applicants can submit visa applications for the Czech Republic are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Puducherry, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram. VFS Global has partnered with the Government of the Czech Republic since 2008, when it first set up visa application operations in Russia. Since then, it has established a robust network of 93 centres across 17 countries for this client government.

Thomas Cook (India) strengthened its presence in North India with the inauguration of a flagship store at Connaught Place. The store was unveiled by Vijay Kumar, Brand Ambassador, Thomas Cook India. This expansion augments Thomas Cook India’s total number of outlets to 16 consumer access centres with six owned branches and 10 Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets in Delhi. Thomas Cook’s new store will offer travellers a range of holiday products (domestic and international tickets, and hotels, cruises, individual and group tours, luxury vacations), foreign exchange, visa services and insurance. Rajeev Kale, ‎President, Country Head–Leisure Travel and MICE, Thomas Cook (India), said, “North India is delivering a strong growth of 20 per cent YoY for our leisure travel business and Delhi has been identified as a prime growth driver as part of our strategic plan. Our new branch at Connaught Place is at a prime location, thus giving our consumers convenient access to a range of holiday products, travel and foreign exchange services.”